Countries are locking down tight again and imposing new restrictions left and right as the holidays are approaching. This should give you an indication of just how serious the Covid-19 situation is right now. Unfortunately, it seems like no matter how many people get infected or die (there have been 76.8 million infections and 1.69 million Covid-related deaths worldwide), far from everyone’s taking it seriously.
Take one mother as an example. She knows that her 4-year-old has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She knows that her child could spread the infection to others. And yet she’s still considering whether to take her and her 6-year-old sibling to Disney World as their Christmas gift. Have a read through the mom’s post yourselves, dear Pandas. And though we get it—nobody wants to see their Christmas plans ruined—it’s people’s lives we’re talking about. 2020 is a real Grinch, but we all have to make small sacrifices so that the next year is better.
Bored Panda wanted to get a professional’s take on the situation, so we reached out to a Covid ICU nurse who goes by the tag The Galactic Gardener on Instagram and who got her first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination on December 15. “I would urge people to think of the families with loved ones in the hospital and loved ones who have lost their lives and just remember what they are thankful for in this time,” she told Bored Panda that people should think about more than just themselves during these trying times.
Mrs. Claws’ Twitter post went viral and showed that some people still don’t believe the coronavirus is serious business
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“As a nurse, I have learned that a holiday is what I make of it. It doesn’t have to be on a certain day, and it definitely doesn’t have to be in person. I think that we all need to work together to get Covid behind us,” the ICU nurse told us that our holidays don’t have to be ‘ruined’ just because our plans change. We can adapt and overcome.
Unfortunately, the nurse isn’t optimistic about what could be said to convince people to stay home during the holidays. “I just hope that people realize that the only way that we can get Covid behind us is to all work together. We can all have different roles and different modes but it has to be a unified front. Some may get the vaccine, others may stay home, and others need to really focus on masking and hand hygiene.”
The nurse also pointed out that there “are still accuracy issues reported” with some Covid tests. “Plenty of people get negative tests before they finally get their positive. And at that point, they thought they were ‘safe’ and ended up infecting multiple people. It really depends on the type and the lab, and how the test was administered.”
Twitter user Mrs. Claws, who shared what the mom sent to the Disney World Junkies Facebook group, got over 193k likes on her thread. Naturally, the thread got a lot of people upset. Because some of us are still far too chill about the global pandemic. We’re just glad that Mrs. Claws blocked out the mother’s name (can you imagine the amount of hate she’d get?).
In case you needed more proof that you should minimize the amount of contact you have with strangers, scientists announced that they discovered a new variant of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom. It’s far more infectious. And it’s being taken very seriously.
For example, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Israel are just some of the countries to block UK flights while trains can no longer leave the UK via the Channel Tunnel.
So, while the Covid-19 vaccines that are being approved and delivered to hospitals are a flash of good news, the situation’s far from over. It’s no time to relax. Unless it’s with a big cup of hot chocolate and the members of your own household. In front of a good Christmas movie. Waiting for Santa.
Here’s how Twitter users reacted to the post. Spoiler alert: they weren’t too happy with the mom
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I love that the idea of maybe going to Disney World a month later makes her "**unbelievably** stressed and heartbroken" as if those family members of 1.7 million dead people just could not fathom her struggle.
School principal and child development specialist here... Children are resilient and will remember and respect your decision later in life to put others well being before yourselves. Be honest with them and postpone the trip until everyone is negative. The rule is 14 days quarantine from the positive test or 14 days plus until symptoms are gone. The gravity of spreading Covid to others who may die should be the deciding force here. There will be tears yes, but explain and show your kids the pics of hospitals overloaded and instill now a responsibility to humanity and the greater good. It's a life lesson here for your children. Disney can be postponed.
Well exactly. The idea that this is so 'devastating' and 'heartbreaking' in comparison to people actually dying, people losing their loved ones really does my head in. The word she should be using is disappointing, not devastasting. People really need to get some perspective in life. The children will cope better than the parents I expect. You don't risk other people's lives just so you can have a flipping holiday. Ye gods.
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I love that the idea of maybe going to Disney World a month later makes her "**unbelievably** stressed and heartbroken" as if those family members of 1.7 million dead people just could not fathom her struggle.
School principal and child development specialist here... Children are resilient and will remember and respect your decision later in life to put others well being before yourselves. Be honest with them and postpone the trip until everyone is negative. The rule is 14 days quarantine from the positive test or 14 days plus until symptoms are gone. The gravity of spreading Covid to others who may die should be the deciding force here. There will be tears yes, but explain and show your kids the pics of hospitals overloaded and instill now a responsibility to humanity and the greater good. It's a life lesson here for your children. Disney can be postponed.
Well exactly. The idea that this is so 'devastating' and 'heartbreaking' in comparison to people actually dying, people losing their loved ones really does my head in. The word she should be using is disappointing, not devastasting. People really need to get some perspective in life. The children will cope better than the parents I expect. You don't risk other people's lives just so you can have a flipping holiday. Ye gods.
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